He was bor… Read Full Bio ↴Michel Sardou (born January 26, 1947) is a French singer.
He was born in Paris, the son of Fernand Sardou and Jackie Rollin (Jackie Sardou). Contrary to what has been written at the beginning of his career, he is not the grandson of the dramatist Victorien Sardou.
He is known for songs dealing with various social and political issues, such as the rights of women in Islamic countries, clerical celibacy and colonialism. Another sometimes controversial theme found in some of his songs ("Les Ricains," for example) is respect and support for the culture and foreign policies of the United States. Another notable fact about his career is that he has focused his full attention on his homeland, ignoring the prospect of an international audience, although his 1981 single "Les lacs du Connemara" did manage to become a big international hit. A number of his hit songs were written in collaboration with Jacques Revaux, a few others (most notably "En chantant") with Italian singer Toto Cutugno.
Even in the 21st century, Michel Sardou remains immensely popular in France, selling out 18 consecutive dates at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in 2001, while his 2004 album "Du plaisir" went straight to the no. 1 spot on the French album charts.
He has been married three times, first to a French dancer, then to Babette (the mother of his children) and lastly to an lifelong friend who edits the French version of Vogue.
He is currently (2023) at the center of a controversy over a song he wrote fifty years ago: the lakes of Connemara. Juliette Armanet, a French pop starlet answering a question about a song that would made her leave a party and it was LES LACS DU CONNEMARA. Sardou, an idol of the French right, in spite of himself, is stuck between the left which finds him corny and the right which does not support that one attacks its institutions. Music is a strong force and nobody fights harder than those who LOVE certain songs. Amazingly this song has nothing to do with politics.
Musulmanes
Michel Sardou Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Que l'on croirait toucher la Lune
Rien qu'en levant les bras
Comme un incendie sous la terre
Les aurores ont brûlé les pierres
Blanchi les toits de Ghardaïa
Voilées pour ne pas être vues
Cernées d'un silence absolu
Vierges de pierre au corps de Diane
Les femmes ont pour leur lassitude
Des jardins clos de solitude
Le long sanglot des musulmanes
C'est un cri
C'est un chant
C'est aussi le désert et le vent
Tout l'amour qu'elles ont dans le corps
La gloire des hommes, le chant des morts
La joie de porter un enfant
C'est un cri
C'est un chant
C'est aussi la douleur et le sang
Toutes les fureurs qu'elles portent en elles
La peur des hommes, la peur du Ciel
Et toutes les forêts du Liban
Elles sont debout sur champs de ruines
Sous le vent glacé des collines
Que la nuit leur envoie
Pour elles, le temps s'est arrêté
C'est à jamais l'éternité
Le crépuscule de Sanaa
Voilées pour ne pas être vues
J'envie ceux qui les ont connues
Vierges de pierre au corps de Diane
Hurlant dans le silence énorme
À l'heure où leurs amants s'endorment
Le long sanglot des musulmanes
C'est un cri
C'est un chant
C'est aussi le désert et le vent
Tout l'amour qu'elles ont dans le corps
La gloire des hommes, le chant des morts
La joie de porter un enfant
C'est un cri
C'est un chant
C'est aussi la douleur et le sang
Toutes les fureurs qu'elles portent en elles
La peur des hommes, la peur du Ciel
Et toutes les forêts du Liban
C'est un cri
C'est un chant
C'est aussi le désert et le vent
Tout l'amour qu'elles ont dans le corps
La gloire des hommes, le chant des morts
La joie de porter un enfant
C'est un cri
C'est un chant
C'est aussi la douleur et le sang
Toutes les fureurs qu'elles portent en elles
La peur des hommes, la peur du Ciel
Et toutes les forêts du Liban
Michel Sardou's song "Musulmanes" is a tribute to the Muslim women and their silent struggle in the Arab world. The opening lines talk about the vast desert with a visible moon that seems within reach with just a hand gesture. The next line talks about the violent dawn that burnt the stones and whitened the roofs of Ghardaïa. The next line talks about the Muslim women who are veiled and covered with silence. They have gardens within them, which is a metaphorical representation of their isolation and their inner world. The last line of this part talks about the long sobbing of the Muslim women.
The chorus of the song talks about the different emotions that Muslim women carry inside them. The first line of the chorus says that it is a cry, a song, the desert, and the wind. It represents the depth of emotions and experiences of Muslim women. The second line of the chorus talks about the love they have in their bodies, the glory of men, the song of the dead, the joy of carrying a child. These lines show the contrast of happiness and pain that Muslim women face in their lives.
The final verse speaks of the Muslim women standing on the ruins of their land. The cold wind from the hills sends shivers down their spine. For them, time seems to have stopped, and they are left in eternity. They are still veiled and have to hide their existence. The last line talks about the long sobbing of the Muslim women that echoes through the enormous silence.
Overall, the song beautifully portrays the life and struggles of Muslim women, their strength, and their pain.
Line by Line Meaning
Le ciel est si bas sur les dunes
Que l'on croirait toucher la lune
Rien qu'en levant les bras.
The sky is so low above the sand dunes that one could imagine touching the moon just by raising their arms.
Comme un incendie sous la terre
Les aurores ont brûlé les pierres,
Blanchi les toits de Ghardaïa.
Like a fire burning underground, the sunrises have scorched the stones and whitened the roofs of Ghardaïa.
Voilées pour ne pas être vues,
Cernées d'un silence absolu,
Vierges de pierre au corps de Diane,
Les femmes ont pour leur lassitude
Des jardins clos de solitude,
Le long sanglot des musulmanes.
Covered to avoid being seen, surrounded by absolute silence, women who are like stone virgins with Diana's body, have closed gardens of loneliness for their weariness and express it with the long sobbing of the Muslim women.
C'est un cri,
C'est un chant,
C'est aussi le désert et le vent,
Tout l'amour qu'elles ont dans le corps,
La gloire des hommes le chant des morts,
La joie de porter un enfant.
It's a cry, it's a song, it's also the desert and the wind; it's all the love they have in their bodies, the glory of men, the song of the dead, and the joy of bearing a child.
C'est un cri,
C'est un chant,
C'est aussi la douleur et le sang,
Toutes les fureurs qu'elles portent en elles,
La peur des hommes, la peur du ciel,
Et toutes les forêts du Liban.
It's a cry, it's a song, it's also the pain and the blood, all the anger they hold within, fear of men, fear of the sky, and all the forests of Lebanon.
Elles sont debout sur champs de ruines,
Sous le vent glacé des collines
Que la nuit leur envoie.
They stand on fields of ruins, under the icy wind of the hills that the night sends to them.
Pour elles, le temps s'est arrêté.
C'est à jamais l'éternité,
Le crépuscule de Sanaa.
For them, time has stopped. It's forever eternity, the sunset of Sanaa.
Voilées pour ne pas être vues,
J'envie ceux qui les ont connues,
Vierges de pierre au corps de Diane.
Hurlant dans le silence énorme,
A l'heure où leurs amants s'endorment,
Le long sanglot des musulmanes.
Covered to avoid being seen, I envy those who have known them, stone virgins with Diana's body. Screaming in the vast silence at the hour when their lovers fall asleep, the long sobbing of the Muslim women.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jacques Revaud, Jean-Pierre Bourtayre, Michel Sardou
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind